Everyone around me is vomitting (THE FLU), when it hits should I "starve" it?

[Darren Dirt]

...apparently the "old wives' tale" is not a myth...


Today I stumbled upon this experiment on mice (I always get confused about cold vs flu, virus vs bacteria -- I wonder if this article will finally help resolve that. Is a "cold" always a virus, and a "flu" always bacteria?)

http://swedenborgcenterconcord.org/busting-science-myths-treating-colds-and-fevers-treating-schizophrenia/

"The experiments fed mice infected with bacteria and with viruses either saline or food. The effects were powerful:
in the group of mice infected with a bacterium, half survived if fed only saline, but all died if fed food;
in the group of mice infected with a virus, 90% died on the saline and 78% survived when fed.
While the precise mechanism is not yet understood, it seems to be related to the influence of glucose availability in the cells.
The glucose seems to bolster the ability of cells to fight viruses (hence "feed a cold"), but emboldens bacteria (hence "starve a fever").


#FoodForThought



EDIT: I realize the saying is not "starve a flu" but "starve a FEVER" -- which of course is your body's natural "anti-biotic" innit? So it makes sense about the not-feeding when that is the state your body is in (not to mention with a flu whatever you eat tends to not stay inside the bowels very long...)

[Thorin]

Wash your hands at every opportunity and don't touch your face for anything (except a brand new tissue to blow your nose) or your food (use utensils for everything).  You'd be surprised how those two simple instructions will stop you from getting sick when everyone around you is, even if you have to clean up after them.

The study is available here: http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(16)30972-2.  I'm not willing to pay $31.50USD to read it to check their methodology, though.  That said, both viral and bacterial infections can cause a fever and both viral and bacterial infections can cause a runny nose, so the fever-vs-runny-nose is a really poor way of determining whether you should eat or not (as suggested in the study, i.e. whether it's a bacterial or viral infection).  Oh, and so can a fungal infection - what would one do for that?

[Darren Dirt]

Wash your hands at every opportunity and don't touch your face for anything (except a brand new tissue to blow your nose) or your food (use utensils for everything).  You'd be surprised how those two simple instructions will stop you from getting sick when everyone around you is, even if you have to clean up after them.

As I have been taking LRT between home and work twice daily since August, I have learned very early on to strive for the "touch nothing, especially my own face" simple rule of staying not-sick. Seems to be working overall compared to others around me at work and home.

Hung out with my daughter with the flu on Wednesday and Thursday so I'm slightly worried, but if I just listen to my body and rest when tired and only eat when actually hungry* then I should be fine, or at least reduce the level of discomfort when it fully hits me... #Optimism FTW


*unless obvious upset stomach / nausea is approaching at breakneck speed and/or suffering a fever... flu or cold or other reason w/e

[Thorin]

Actually, if it's a flu then eat when you're hungry regardless of fever - what we call "flu" is a virus: http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/flu-guide/what-is-flu#1.  And based on what you linked before, virii are more easily defeated if you eat.